DAVID Bates is set to make his Scotland debut in Albania and the Hamburg defender insists he is ready and willing to be thrown into such a vital match.

The 22-year-old, who moved from Rangers to the German club in the summer, was a late call-up by Alex McLeish who faces a defensive crisis ahead of the double-header with the Albanians on Saturday night and Israel at Hampden three days later, games which will decided the Nations League group.

Charlie Mulgrew is out, Aberdeen’s Michael Devlin is not expected to be fit and it is understood that McLeish is reluctant to play Kieran Tierney are centre-half if Scotland go with a back four, although he is expected to start on Saturday with a three-man defence.

Ryan Jack, who can play at right-back, dropped out less than a day after being called up on Sunday, while Kilmarnock's Stephen O'Donnell has been sidelined with a hamstring problem.

“If the manager asked me to play, I would say thanks very much,” said Bates. “Seriously, I feel totally ready.

“I have been playing every game for Hamburg except for a couple of matches and I feel I have come on a lot as a player. So I definitely feel ready.

“I got called up to the last two under-21 trips which was my first time getting away. I was delighted to get the call on Sunday to come here. It was two months ago I got my first under-21 cap. I was in a couple of squads at Rangers but got injured when I got called up.

“I follow it on Twitter and the call-offs were tweeted. I never really thought about it until I got a call after training on Sunday.

"It's great being here. Training has been good, at a really good level, and it was great to meet all the boys.”

Bates is a Rangers supporter but turned down a long-term deal at Ibrox to move to Hamburg, top of German football’s second tier, before the end of last season on a free transfer.

Since then, Steven Gerrard has brought back confidence and positivity to Rangers but the Fifer has no regrets about his move.

Asked if he would have stayed had he known Gerrard was coming in, Bates said: “I wouldn’t say so. I think everyone respected that I wanted to go down a different route.

“I never had many comments saying things like ‘Oh why are you doing that?’ Maybe some people did but I never really read or heard them.

“All the ones I say were about how brave I was and how good it was that I was going out there and trying something different. For me, it’s the best decision I’ve made.”